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uuTH Congress, 
2d Session. 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. J 



Report 
No. 2169. 



TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION OF DISCOVERY OF 
LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 



Fehkuarv 15, 1909. — Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. 



Mr. Foster, of Vermont, from tlie Committee on Foreign Affairs, 
submitted the following' 

REPORT. 

[To aceonipany H. J. Kes. 257.] 



The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred House 
joint resokition 257, submit thi; following report: 

In the month of November, 1906, a joint resolution for the ap[)oint- 
ment of a commission for the celebration of the three hundredth anni- 
versary- of the discovery of Lake Champlain was adopted by the senate 
and house of representatives of the State of Vermont, containing the 
recital that — 

Whereas the discovery of Lake Champlain was an event in history fully as impor- 
tant as many others that liave been recognized by various States as well as by the 
National Government; and 

Wherea.^ the three hundredth anniversary of such discovery will occur on July 4, 
1909, it is hereby 

Resolved bij the senate and Jioiise of representatires, That this event should be 
observed in a fittino; manner and bring about an observance comniensurate with its 
importance, there is hereby provided a comuiission consisting of the governor, who 
shall be chairman ex officio, and six other members to be appointed by the gov- 
ernor before January 1, 1907, one of whom shall act as secretary. Said commission 
is hereby empowered to adopt such measures as in its judgment may be reasonable 
or necessary to bring about the fitting ol)servance of such event. And as the inter- 
ests of the State of New York and of the Dominion of Canada are allied with those 
of Vermont in such oVjservance, it is hereby recommended that saiil commission con- 
fer with the proper authorities of New York and Canada to ascertain what action 
they or either of them will take with Vermont in making the observance of this 
event successful and a credit to all, and that the commission report the result of such 
efforts, together with its recommendations, to the general assembly of 1908 — 

which resolution was approved by Governor Fletcher D. Proctor on 
November 15, 1906; and thereafter Governor Proctor appointed as 
members of such commission Walter E. Howard, of Middleburj'; 
Horace \V, Bailey, of Newbury; R. W. McCuen, of Vergennes; Lynn 
M. Hays, of Essex Junction; Walter H. Crockett, of St. Albans; 
jNI. D. McMahon, of Burlington: and thereafter, on April 15, 1907, on 



V\1^ 

2 TKKCKNTKNAKV CKLKHKA'J 1' >N JJlSCoVKKY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

motion of Senator Ilciirv W. Hill, of BuHiiio, the senate of the State 
of New York ado))te(l the followino- resolution, which was concurred 
in l»y the assembly on April KI. I'.'OT: 

Whc'iviis the discnverv of i-ake Clianiplaiii by Samuel Chaui])lain on July 4, 1609, 
ftiitedates the diseoveryljy the white? of any other portion of the territory now com- 
prising' the State of New Vork, and was an event wortliy of commemoration in the 
annals of the State and nation; and 

Wlu-reas tlie State of \'ermont in 1906 appointed a commission, consisting of the 
povernor of tliat State and fix otiier coinmi.«sioner«, to confer with commissioners 
to be ap|)ointe<l on the part of New York and the Dominion of Canada, to ascertain 
what action, it any, ouglit to Ije taken by such States and the Dominion of Canada 
for the observance of such tercentenary: Therefore 

licaiilviil (if thidKsemhlii ntuntr). That a commission consisting of the governor, 
who shall 1h" cliairman ex otlicio, two citizens to be designated by him, the lieutenant- 
governor, the speaker of the assembly, two senators to be designated by the lieuten- 
ant-governor, and two mend^ers of tiie assembly to be designated by the speaker, be 
appointefl to represent the State of New York at such conference, with power to 
enter into negotiations with the commissioners representing the State of Vermont 
and those representing the Dominion of Canada for the observance of such tercen- 
teiuiry, and tiiat such commission report the results of their negotiations, together 
with their recommendations thereon, to the legislature of 1908. 

The New York commission appointed under the foreg'oing- resolution 
consisted of (iovernor Charles K. Huohes, Lieutenant-Governor Lewis 
Stuyvesiint Chaider, Senators Henry W. Hill, John C. R. Taylor, and 
Assemhlynien James W. Wadsvvorth. jr., speaker of the assembly, 
Alonson T. Dominy, James A. Foley, and Frank S. Witherbee and 
John H. Hooth. 

That rommission. toj>ether with the Vermont commission, during 
the summer of VM)~i made a tour of Lake Champlain, held several 
joint and separate meetine^s. and the New York commission formulated 
its report :ind transmitted it to the New York legislature of 1908, a 
copy of which is aiutexed hereto, in the conclusion of which report 
they reconnnended as follows: 

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ANNIVERSARY OP 1909. 

Your commission respectfully submit the foregoing report to the consideration of 
the legislature of New York. The anniversarv which we desire shall be suitably 
ot)served has great sigmHcance. Important as it is to the student of history, it makes ' ' 
a wider and stronger ap{)eal to that large body of our citizens whose forefathers fouo-ht 
HI the wars ot the Champlain region or were among the pioneers who transformed 
It m)in the wilderne.«s. 

Uut chief of all the considerations which we urge upon your attention is the inter- 
national character of the propose<l celebration. The historv of the Champlain Val- 
ley belongs to the history of three great nations, whose cordial relations we believe 
will rx.' promoted by tlie suitable ob.«ervance of this significant date. 

RECO.M.MENDATI0N. 

*r'''/^!''"!/'"*^•^'''"[ '■*?'»'"'^-^'.on' after careful investigation, reaches the conclusion 
! !f/ \\ VT ^Tir S" '-"'IP'^r^'^'-y «f tl'(' discovery of Lake Champlain should be 

e let'n^^'t'r Ml "'f ^.""'^ "'^ 'u ''"' ^"'^ ^"^ ^'^"^ ^"^ ''^ respectfully recommend 
iiH' enactment ol tlie following bill. 

Thereafter a bill was prepared and submitted to tlie legislature, which 
was amended m some respects, and subsequently enacted and became 
chapter 14!> ol the New 1 ork Laws of IDOS, providing in substance for 
u cdcbriition of the tercentenary of the discovery of Lake Champlain 
by Samuel <^ii:»;ypl;UM in the month of Jtdy, lOO!), which celebration, 
by he terms o the lull, ,s toocciir in the month of July, 1909, at various 
points m the Champlain A allev. 



TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION DISCOVERY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 5 

Thecomiiiis.sioii appointed tlicronnder consisted of H. Wallace Knapp, 
Mooeivs. N. Y., chairman; lleniy W. Hill, of Butlalo, secretary: Walter 
C. Witherhee, Port Henrv, tieasurei-; James ,). Fra\vl(\v. New York 
Citv; James Shea, Lake Placid; James A. Foley, New York City; 
John H. Booth, Plattsl>uro-; John B. Kiley, Platts])uro-; Louis C. 
Lafontaine, Champlain; Howland Pell, New York City. 

This commission was empowered under the last-mentioned statute to 
enter into nei^otiations and cooperate with the State of Vermont, the 
Government of the Ihiited States, the Dominion of Canada, and the 
Province of Quebec, and either or all of them in such tercentenar}^ 
celehration, and ap])ropriated hy chapter -1:(!(5 of the New York Laws 
of I'.XKS the sum of ??50.0iiO for that purpose. 

The Vermont commission made its report to the lei^islature of Ver- 
mont, held in the fall of 190S, also reconuuending, among" other things, 
that a proper celebration be held in conjunction with the State of New 
York, the Government of the United States, and the Dominion of 
Canada, a copy of which report is amiexed hereto. Subscquentl}^ the 
State of Vermont made an appropriation of ^25,000 to enable that 
State to participate in the tercentenary celebration. 

The conunission appointed thereunder consisted of Governor George 
H. Prouty. chairman; T^ynn M. Hays. of Burlington, secretary ; Walter 
H. Crockett, of St. All)ans; Rev. John ^l. Thomas, of Middlebury; 
Horace W. Bailey, of Rutland; W^. J. Van Patten, of Burlington; 
Frank L. Fish, of Veigennes; Arthur L. Stone, of St. Johnsbury; and 
F. O. Beaupre, of Burlington. 

The facts warranting federal appropriation are 1)rietiy set forth in 
the report of the New York and Vermont commissions, and in amplifi- 
cation thereof the following additional facts are respectfully submitted 
to the consideration of the President and the Congress of the United 
States: 

Long before its discovery !)y Samuel Champlain, in July. 1(!09, 
Lake C'hamplain was the resort and battle ground of the savage Algon- 
quin, Huron, and Iroquois nations who peopled its islands and circum- 
jacent beautifully shaded and picturesque shores. It was a paradise 
for the aborigines, whose native customs and adventurous but pre- 
carious life were a startling revelation to such an explorer as Cham- 
plain, coming as he did from the refinements of French life of the six- 
teenth and seventeenth centuries. Still be was hospitably received and 
escorted to and through the lake, then known as " Caniaderiguarunte," 
which signifies the '" gate of the country." The lake was also known 
as •' Mer des Iroquois,'' and traversed by the warring Indian tribes, 
whose canoes formed picturesque flotillas in those early days on the 
blue waters of the lake. 

Had Champlain been gifted with the poetic imagination of a Homer 
or a Virgil, he might have cast into an epic the storv of his explora- 
tions and discoveries, which were (piitc as thrilling as those of the 
Iliad, the Odysse}^ or the Aeneid. Other poets have dwelt upon the 
beauties of this lake and have sung of the tragic; events that have 
occurred on its waters. 

The Champlain Valley is one of the historic portions of the American 
Continent. Its Indian occupation was succeeded by that of the French, 
and in turn by the English. From its discovery in July. 1009, to the 
battle of Plattsburgh, in Septeml)er, 1814, Lake Champlain was the 
thoroughfare of many expeditions and the scene of man}' sanguinary 



4 tekc;kntp:nakv celkhration discovery of lake champlain. 

cnjjatiomcnts. Noted French, British, and American ofEcers visited it 
and stopped at its forts, from St. Anne on the north, founded at Isle 
La Motte in KJOf), to St. Frederic, founded in honor of the French sec- 
rctjirv of foreiii-n athiirs, Fi-ederick Maui-epas, by Marquis de Beau- 
harnais, o()vernoi--oeneraI of Canada, at Crown Point in 1731, and 
Fort CariUon. founded at Tieonderot>a iji 17«>(>, on the south. 

The t>i-aiits of some of its islands and adjacent shore lands under 
French siMj^nories were the subject of a lono- controversy between the 
French and liritish (lovernments, challcnoino- on the one side the con- 
sideration of such othcials as Marquis de Bcauharnais and others under 
Louis XV and Louis XVI, and on the other side such statesmen as 
Lord Dartmouth. Edmund Burke, and Sir Henry Moore under the 
British Crown. But few, if any, occupations were made under French 
sei^jj-norial ^-rants, and the controversy finally ended after the Seven 
Years' French and Indian war, which terminated with the capture of 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point ))y the British in 1759, and the later 
sovereit>-n control by tlie Americans during- the Revolution. 

The ('hanq)iain \'alley was the scene of important military and one 
naval engagtMuent during the Kevolutionary war, and permission has 
been obtained from the \Var Department to raise from the waters of 
Lake Champlain the Royal Savage at Valcour Island, the flagship of 
Benedict Arnold during that engagement. The historj^ of Ticon- 
deroga and Macdonald's victory at the battle of Plattsburgh, in Sep- 
tember, 1S14, are of such national importance as to merit federal con- 
sideration during the forthcoming celel)ration of the discovery of the 
lake. 

For two hundred years or longer the Champlain Valley was the 
highway between Albany on the" south and Quebec on the north, 
through which surged the tides of war and travel, until every promi- 
nent i)()int and important island in the lake was marked bv some nota- 
ble event worthy of historic mention. The proposed celebration of 
the discovery of the lake will connnemorate some of these important 
events. Sewell S. Cutting, D. D., in a poem read at the University 
of Vermont in 1S77 thus describes some of these events. 



He savs: 



1 shift my theine, nor yet shall \vand«r far; 
My song shall linger where my memories are. 
Dear Lake Champlain! Thon hast historic fame— 
The woritl accords it in thy very name. 
Not English speech these savage wilds first heard, 
Not Englisli |)rows that first these waters stirred; 
Primeval forests cast their shadows dark 
On dusky forms in craft of fragile bark, 
When first the paleface from the distant sea 
Hrouglit hither conciiiering cross and flenr-de-lis. 
( )n frowning headlands rose the forts of France— 
Around them villages, and song, and dance. 
Four generations came and passed away, 
Of treacherous peace and sanguinary fray. 
When hostile armies hostile fiags unfurled. 
To wage the destiny of half the'world. 



No part ()t the I nited States can vie in comparison with Lake Cham- 
plain and Its (M.virons for historic importance and the ultimate sig-nifi- 
cance of he national and international events occurring in that valley. 

Lverv bav and island of the ImI-o .md v,/^.,..i,. -..,^..., £t^^ .l- -^ i -^ 

i-ay 



(ance or lie national and international events occurring in that valley. 

Lvery bay and island of the lake and nearlv everv foot of its shore 

have_ been tJ.e s<.ene of some warlike movment-the midnight foray 

of the predatory savage, the bloody scout of frontier settlers, the 



TERUENTENAKY CELEBRATION DISOOVEKV OF LAKECH AMPLAIN. 5 

rendezvous of armed bands, or the conHict of contending armies." 
These stirring events cover a period of centuries — from the traditional 
history of the Indians to the close of the war of 1S12. 

P^rom the earliest periods of settlement in Canada, New England, 
and New York the valley of Lake Champlain, both as watercourse or 
highway, served as a thoroughfare by which, in hostile times, preda- 
tory excuisions were dinn-ted against both the Fi-ench and Knglish 
frontiers, and over which captives were conxeyed into uncMiviabUM-ap- 
tivity. This was the route traversed by delegations engaged in diplo- 
matic relations between the French and English colonists, and was used 
by agents employed to arrange an exchange of captives. The valley 
was a highway of commerce, i)articularl3' in the operations of the fur 
trade. Its Indian name, meaning "door of the country," was an apt 
designation, for into it there marched the flower of contending armies 
of France, England, and the United States, who struggled persistentl}' 
for its control. The destinies of the United States and Canada and of 
England's colonial policy were largely decided by what occurred in the 
Chaniplain Valley. 

An unjust historical perspective is often created by placing too high 
value upon the significance of figures. Large armies do not always 
count for as much in their influence upon the course of the world's 
history as events more hidden from view and surrounded with less of 
glamour. The one more easily bewitches the eyes, hut the other is 
more likely to appeal to reason. The histor}^ of the Chaniplain Valley 
exhibits in relief momentous martial and naval engagements and in 
intaglio the deeds of individuals and collections of men pregnant Avith 
far-reaching results in the evolution of the continent of North America. 

Samuel Champlain laid the foundations of New France at Quebec in 
1608, and in l(iO'> led an expedition into the Richelieu River, accom- 
panied by a retinue of Algonquian and other (^anadian Indians. At 
the falls of Chambly he al)and!)ned the vessel in which he had sailed, 
and by portaging and canoeing reached the entrance of a great lake, 
which he named Lake Champlain. Its confines constituted one of the 
hunting grounds of the well-organized Iroquoian Confederacy. The 
Iroquois were then at great enmity with the Algonquians and the 
Canadian llurons. 

On the night of July 29, 1009, Champlain fell in with one of the 
hunting paities of the Irocjuois, They spent the night in i)arleying 
and uttering defiance at one another, and on the morning of 'U\\y 30 
the now well-known battle of Champlain took place at or near the site 
of Ticonderoga, as is generally believed by the best historians. The 
significance of this })attle is attested by the alienation of the Iroquois 
from the French and their affiliation with the Dutch and English, and 
was one of the embryonic factors which, under development, ultimately 
saved northern New York and a large contiguous territory to English 
instead of French interests, 

France claimed the region l)v right of discovery, but F^ngland sought 
to repress her by the limitationsof treaty. In 1731 France violated the 
compact of peace b}^ the erection of Fort St, Frederic on the peninsula 
known better as Crown Point. The Iroquois, as claimants of terri- 
torial ownershi]^, in flune, 1737, protested against the French occupa- 
tion. In 1739 the French commandant promised the Iroquois that 
France would not encroach or settle south of Fort St. Frederic, 
but he claimed for his King all the watershed of the St. Lawrence, 



6 TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION DISCOVERY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

inclusive of Lake Chainplain and Lake George. Li 1742 the fort^ 
having" been enlarged, was the strongest work held by the French in 
Canada — Quebec and Louisburg only excepted. The live j'ears' war^ 
familiarly known as King Georg'e's war, involved the subjects of 
France and England in conflict, both in Europe and in America. A 
nominal peace was estal)lished b\^ the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 
1748. But soon the Acadian and other boundar}^ contentions between 
the two Crowns were in fern)ent. 

France practiced sul)tlety in her diplomatic negotiations, strength- 
ened her frontier ])Osts, and inoculated her Indian allies with hatred of 
her English colonial neighbors. In 1755 she built Fort Carillon, after- 
wards Ticonderoga, and thus advanced her outposts. Henceforth, and 
in a seven j^ears' war. Fort Carillon and Ticonderoga bore the })runt 
of frontier aggrandizement. In August of that year Dieskau occu- 
pied Crown Point with 7U0 regulars, 1,600 Canadians, and TOO Indians. 
In 1756, 2,000 men of France were engaged on Fort Carillon; in 1757 
it was garrisoned with 0,000 men under the Marquis de Montcalm, 
On July 8, 1758, Abercrombie, with regulars and provincials, unsuc- 
cessfully stormed its works and lost nearly 2,000 men. In the same 
year Robert Rogers, the intrepid ranger, lost 125 out of a total of 
180 men. Upon the evacuation of the region by the French in 175!> 
General Amherst took possession of Ticonderoga in July, and of 
Crown Point in August. In 1760 Amherst assembled an army of 
15,000 men at Crown Point, and in August of that year Colonel Havi- 
land, with about 3,300 men, opened Are upon the French post at Isle 
aux Noix, forced the French conuuander, P)Ourlamaque, to withdraw^ 
and captured the garrison that remained behind. 

For a time after the treaty of Paris, in 1763, the region rested in 
comparative quiescence. England's ac(|uisition by treaty of the vast 
domain of Canada eradicated the long-standing imbroglios with France 
in North America; but the intercolonial wars had schooled the English- 
American colonists in the arts of prowess and of war. The colonists 
also had greater freedom to consider internal interests, being now 
relieved from the erstwhile collisions with the French. A narrow 
colonial policy lent itself toward the growth of a spirit of resentment 
in the colonies, and England's determination to enforce obedience to 
her will by the employment of military authority served only to fan 
the slumbering embers into a conflagration. It was under these con- 
ditions in May, 1775, that the audacious Ethan Allen, accompanied by 
onl}^ about 83 men, surprised the English garrison at Fort Ticon- 
deroga and that Seth Warner took Crown Point, in each case without 
bloodshed. When De la Place, the English ofticer at Ticonderoga^ 
asked Allen by what authorit}" he demanded the fort's surrender, he 
replied with those now memorable words: "By the authority of the 
Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." The personality of 
Allen was and is yet a subject of academic controversy, but his action 
in this afl'air is a landmark in the romantic history of America. 

Benedict Arnold has been execrated for his treason to iiis country, 
yet his name is connected with one of the greatest of patriotic services 
during the American Revolution. On Octol)er 11, 1776, he engaged 
in an extraordinary naval battle on Lake Champlain against the over- 
whelming odds of the British fleet under Sir Guy Carleton, This bat- 
tle is in our naval annals of the Revolution what E^unker Hill is to our 
militarv historv— "a battle wherein g-lorv and renown were eained in 



TERCENTENARY CELEHKATION DISCUVEKV OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 7 

defeat." Spears, the naval historian, has characterized it thus: " Not 
onl}' was the moral etiect of this battle (jiiite as oivat in the couraoe it 
o-ave the Americans, and the pause for thought it ^ave the enemy; it 
served to head otf a victorious invading- British army bound for Albany 
and the subjugation of northern New York. It taught the British tinit 
the Aniericans were not only willing, l)ut they were able hghtcrs. In 
spite of the tiHMuendous odds against them, at the last they had i)roved 
proved themselves as unyielding as the rocks that echoed back the 
roar of the conflict." 

Burgoyne made an unsuccessful attack upon the American occu- 
pants of Fort Ticonderoga in June, 1777, but with 7,000 men had 
forced the abandonment of Crown Point in that month; and in Jul}', 
having erected a l)attery on Mount Defiance, which conunanded Fort 
Ticonderoga, forced tin; Ameiicans to evacuate it on the night of the 
6th. The ternnnation of the American Kevolution, save for internal 
controversies between New York and Vermont, ended the storm and 
stress i^eriod in the Cham])lain Valley for many years, until our sec- 
ond war w ith (ji-eat Britain. 

From September to 11, 1814. various land engagements took i)lace 
about r]atts>)urg-. The British forces, numbering about 11,500 troops 
and including- many of Lord Wellington's veterans, were under Sir 
George Prev'ost, governor and commander in chief in British North 
America; the Americans,* conunanded by Macomb and Bissell, num- 
bered 4, .500 men. On Septembei" II, 1S14, the American navy on the 
lake, conunanded l)y Tliomas Macdonough, defeated the Britisji s((uad- 
ron under the conunand of Commodore Ceorge Downie. This naval 
battle was crucial in bringing the war of 1S12 to a termination. The 
success was acclaimed ])v the American ])eople everywhere by rejoicing, 
bonfires, and illuminations, and was sung in the folk and war l)allads 
of the da}'. Congress recognized its national significance ])y officially 
thanking the whole force engaged, and by voting- gold medals to 
Macdonough, Henley, and Cassin, and a silver medal to each of the 
other commissioned officers. In this victory the United States gained 
prestige for the dinnands of the treat}^ of peace, and an estoppel was 
put upon England's endeavor to get possession of the northeast corner 
of the State of Maine. 

If the lake itself was the door of the whole northern country, Lar- 
rai)ee's Point, on the Vei'mont side, opposite Fort Ticonderoga, was a 
side door to New England, and from that side door the New England 
frontiers suffered repeatedly the havoc of Indian devastations. But 
there are other places, besides those hitherto mentioned, whose historic 
associations are insepai'able from a narration of the landmarks of the 
Champlain Valley. At Burlington, Vt., the first steamboat on the 
lake was launched in 1808 and bore the name of that State. This was 
onlv a year after Fidton's steamer, the (Jirmont^ first plied the Hudson 
from New Y\)rk to Albany. Shorth' thereafter, during the period of 
our second war with Great Britain, Burlington was a garrisoned post 
and a base of supplies. 

On the Isle La Motte (named from Pierre de St. Paul, sieur de la 
Motte-Lussiere, a captain of the famous Carignan regiment), the French 
built a fort in 1666, which was naured Ste Anne, and in July of that 
year, while garrisoned by several companies of the regiment above 
alluded to, was invested by hostile Mohawks, whose depredations 
included the death of Captains de Traversy and de Chazy. In Octo- 
ber, 1666, M. de Tracy, governor-general of New France, guided and 



8 TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION DISCOVERY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

assomhlod an expedition on the Isle La Motte for the purpose of chas- 
tisin<j till' Iro(|U()i.s. Twelve hundred combatants, borne by a tieet of 
800 bateaux and canoes, and strengthened by two pieces of artillery, 
were enij-ao-ed. Tlu\v penetrated to the remotest hamlets of these 
Indians and phinted the arms of France, in token of taking formal pos- 
session of the whole northern part of New York. The French remained 
undisturl)ed from the Mohawks for nearly a (^mirter of a century. 
Fort Ste Anne became a Jesuit mission station and was v^isited by 
Bishop Laval in 16H.S. In August, 1690, Capt. Jolm Schuyler camped 
there during his return from a foray into Canada. Gens. Philip 
Schuyler and Richard Montgomery met on the island in September^ 
1775, during their advance against St. Johns and Montreal, and laid 
there the plans for that invasion of Canada, ^'ow the shrine of Ste 
Anne, on the west side of the island, is visited annually by thousands 
of devout pilgrims. 

Maj. Robert Rogers and 142 men came into Missisquoi Bay in the 
autumn of 17(iO, secreted their boats and some provisions, and went oti' 
on an expedition against the St. Francis Indians, near the village of 
Three Rivers, which they burned. Earlier in that year this same 
intrei)id ranger had landed at the place called Rouse's Point, near 
which he was attacked by a superior body of French from the Isle 
aux Noix. The French were defeated and their commander was slain. 

Swanton, in Vermont, at an early period formed a considerable set- 
tlement oF the French and Indians, being then '^probably the largest 
in the Champlain \'alley with the exception of Crown Point." At the 
mouth of Otter Ci-eek. the largest river in Vermont, where Fort Cas- 
sin was l)uilt. the American s(|uadron was fitted out in 1S14 for battle 
against the English navy. This fort was named for Lieutenant Cassin 
of our navy, who, with Captain Thornton of the Cnited States Artil- 
lery, in May, LSl-i, had defended the American fleet then buildings 
there from attempted destruction l)y the British. 

A little to the north of Rouse's Point are the ruins of Fort Mont- 
gomery, built by error in what was then Canadian soil, and often 
called on that account " Fort Blunder," but corrected l)y international 
boundary concessions. Rouse's Point is a place of commercial interest 
and the most important port of entry on this frontier. Near by is 
Point au Fei-. fortilied in 177() by the patriot General Sullivan, but 
occupied by the British in June of the next vear and relinciuished by 
them only as late as 1788. At Valcour Island, oti' BluH' Point and 
Hotel Chami)lain, the scene of Arnold's naval battle of 1776, the 
wreck of the Royal Savage lies under water to this day as a reminder 
of the beginnings of our national naval adventures. At the head of 
the lake to the south, near the . present Whitehall, Maj. Israel 
Putnam, in August, 1758, was engaged in watching the enemy's 
maneuvers, and had a tierce encounter in the forest with French and 
Lulians. He was captured, tied to a tree by the Indians, who made 
pr(>pai-ations to roast him alive. Only the stern interposition of the 
French officer. Marin, prevented them from dispatching bim thus 
cruelly and robbing the patriot cause of one of its bravest leaders 
during the American Revolution. 

The New York and Champlain commissions have concluded contracts 
with Mr. L. O. Armstrong, of Montreal, to present Indian pageants 
on Lake Champlain during the tercentenarv celebration. These will 
be presented by 15U native Indians, descendants of the original tribes. 



TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION DISCOVERY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 9 

that occupied portions of the Champlain Valley at the time of its dis- 
covery by Chanij)lain. They will reproduce the battle of Samuel 
Champlain with the Iroquois and also present a dramatic version of 
Lonofellow's Hiawatha on floating barges anchored on the waters of 
the lake at various places where exercises are to be held. 

It is desirable that the United States detail national troops and the 
States of New York and Vermont regiments from the national guard 
to present military pageants at Ticonderoga, Plattsburg, and Bur- 
lington. The two commissions have decided to hold formal exercises 
on July 5, 1909, at Crown Point, on July 6 at Fort Ticonderoga, on 
Juh- 7 at Plattsburg, on July 8 at Burlington, and on July 9 at 
Isle La Motte, at each of which places Indian pageants will be pre- 
sented. 

The proposed celebration of the discover}'^ of Lake Champlain may 
also include a celebration of such colonial, national, and international 
events occurring since the discoverj^of the lake as to make it eminently 
proper that the Government of the United States officially participate 
in the exercises commemorating these historical events. Historical 
addresses and other literary' exercises are to be held, and it is impor- 
tant that the United States Government invite and entertain repre- 
sentatives of the Republic of France, the Kingdom of Great Britain, 
and the Dominion of Canada. The celebration is of national and inter- 
national importance, and the committee recommends that the resolution 
do pass. 



H. Rep. 2169, 60-2 2 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 112 841 3 



